Schedule

Championship Sunday - Sep 23

Last Week's Results

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2017 Power Rankings – August Report

Sat, Jul 29, 2017

Power Rankings: August Report

We are in the home stretch of the season. 14 games down and 4 to go. After this weekend, teams will start seeing their division rivals for the 2nd time and playoff positioning will start to be finalized. Thanks to the WSL field crew (captained by Gerald) and a little luck from mother nature, we haven’t had a rainout all season so the August report is launching a little earlier than expected. That’s the good news. The bad news is the season will likely end 8/20 meaning there will be 3 weeks (2 weekends) off before playoffs start. For those a little banged up, that might not be such a bad thing. For teams or players ending the season on a hot streak, the break might cool them down. It’s highly doubtful we will put together a tournament either on 8/27 or Labor Day weekend because it’s too close to the playoffs and we don’t want to risk injuries before the most important three weeks of the season. If teams want to scrimmage or players want to play pick-up, that’s up to you but nothing official is going to be organized so plan accordingly.

1. Three Kings (Pre-season #1, Last Ranking #1, Current Record: 13-1)

Three Kings are still the undisputed top ranked team. Any attempt to argue that point would be foolish but the aura of invincibility that has surrounded this team for the past year has started to erode a little. We are not claiming they are slumping and we are not wavering on our belief that they will cruise back to the finals with little resistance but they have come back to earth a little in the past 5 weeks especially with their offense. In weeks 1-9, they averaged a ridiculous 20 runs per game. Since week 10, they are averaging 9.6 runs a game and scored 5 runs or less in 2 of their last 5 games. The dream of an undefeated season was killed by their slumping offense which put up 3 runs in their only loss of the season. That loss was to Black Betty who also handed Three Kings their last loss in the WSL all the way back in August of 2016. However, the Three Kings defense and solid pitching continues to keep them in every game by holding teams to an average 7 runs a game (2nd best in the league in Runs Allowed). It’s safe to say almost every other team would sign up to be in the “slump” that Three Kings is in.

Odds to win the championship: 2-1

2. 86ers (Pre-season – #2, Last Ranking #3, Current Record: 11-3)

The 86ers defense is as good as any in the league and there are only 3 teams that have allowed less runs than the 86ers. If you take away the 86ers crushing loss to Three Kings (28-5), they are averaging 7.5 runs allowed a game. The only weakness the 86ers have is an inconsistent offense. It’s not a bad offense because they average 12 runs a game and have solid hitters throughout the line-up but 6 times this season they put up 10 or less runs. The 86ers have only lost to teams who are leading their division or tied for the lead so they don’t choke against bad or average teams. If they jump out to an early lead or if their offense is clicking, they are a very tough team to beat. Unlike past seasons, no one will be surprised if 86ers make it back to the Final Four for a 3rd straight year, or the Finals for a 2nd straight year or even win their first title. Plus – they now have 2 players with matching “Got’em” tattoos which is double the number of any other team.

Odds to win the championship: 4-1

3. Runaways (Pre-season – #12, Last Ranking #5, Current Record: 10-4)

The Cinderella story continues. While it’s clear they are a better team than past years, it’s likely many people thought their 6-3 record to start the season was a little lucky or too small a sample size to start declaring these guys contenders. Since then, they have gone 4-1 with their only loss a hard fought game against Three Kings. It’s now safe to say the first half wasn’t a fluke. The most impressive part of this Runaways team is their defense. We are 14 games into the season and they have only let up 95 runs! For those who are math-challenged, that’s less than 7 runs a game (it’s true – I have a calculator next to me). They have let up 5 runs or less in 6 of their 14 games. No team has scored more than 13 runs against them the entire season. However, they also have an offense that doesn’t blow teams away and that could catch up with them in the playoffs. The last 4 weeks of the season will tell us a lot about the Runaways. They have one of the hardest schedule of any team and will be battling for a top two seed in the Division which would significantly increase their chances of making it to the Final Four in a really tough Fashion division. Chad is also extremely handsome so there’s that…

For one very rare moment in WSL history, Black Betty felt what it was like to have the entire league rooting for something other than complete destruction of their team. With Three Kings assuming the role of the Evil Empire (and doing an amazing job in that role with certain players screaming “we own this league” after a recent game), the Black and Gold squad got a taste of what it is like to play the role of David after many years as Goliath. Their victory over Three Kings helped put this team back on track for the playoff push following two heartbreaking defeats to Clems and Nest over a three week period after running off 7 straight wins. Betty also had a few hours of other people in the league appearing happy that Betty won…. It was uncomfortable for everyone involved and thankfully it all wore off before the end of that Sunday. Betty has a balanced squad (3rd lowest Runs-Allowed / 3rd highest Runs-Scored) and plenty of playoff experience so you have to like their chances of making it back to the Final Four after getting bounced in round 2 last year by the 86ers.

Up until last weekend, Spike Hill was rolling. They won 8 of their last 9 with their only loss coming in an amazing extra inning game against Three Kings. They hit a bump in the road against R Bar in their last game and it bounced them out of a tie for the lead in Fashion South. Spike Hill has lost 4 games and it’s against teams in first or tied in first. In that way they are similar to the 86ers. The way they are different is their explosive offense. When Spike Hill is clicking, they put up a ton of runs. They are 2nd in the league in runs scored – 34 higher than the 3rd team. Their next two games are against teams with a combined 4 wins so they will likely be adding to the total before the end of the season. If Spike has any chance of winning their group, they need to beat 86ers in the second to last game of the season to even out the season series.

Odds to win the championship: 5-1

6. Turkey’s Nest (Pre-season – #7, Last Ranking #6, Record 9-5)

The up and down season for the Nest continues. They have been in a “Lose one / Win Two” cycle since week 8. They had a big win against Black Betty in week 12 and a solid win against R Bar in week 6 but all other wins have come against teams under 500 so it’s hard to know for sure how good Nest is right now. We also know their players’ regular season attendance is not as strong as their playoff attendance so we likely haven’t seen three straight weeks of their full roster like we will in the playoffs. They can clearly hang with other good teams having lost to Three Kings & Kilo by 1 run and 86ers by 5 but it would be a big morale boaster if they can take this Sunday’s game against the Runaways. The Nest is one of the only obstacle we see for Three Kings returning to the finals. It’s going to be tough for the Nest to beat Three Kings but when your spiritual leader has a gold Wu-Tang necklace and has the same birthday as Richard Simmons and Bill Cosby anything is possible.

Odds to win the championship: 7-1

7. R Bar (Pre-season – #6, Last Ranking #8, Record 8-6)

As we mentioned at the mid-year mark, R Bar has done a great job navigating a tricky start to the season and the last two weeks have been really impressive. If it wasn’t for a one run loss in week 12, R Bar would be on a 4 game winning streak. As it stands, they have beaten Kilo, 86ers and Spike Hill over the past 4 weeks. That’s a solid run and they have a good potential to run the table in the last 4 games of the season since they don’t play a team over 500 the rest of the way. If you told RBar they would have a good chance of finishing 12-6 at the beginning of the season, I think they would have signed up for that. Plus – their team is coming together at the right time so they might surprise a few people come playoff time. I mean – who wouldn’t want to see R Bar vs Three Kings in the Godsy Division Finals?

Odds to win the championship: 7-1

8. Kilo Bravo (Pre-season – #5, Last Ranking #7, Record 7-7)

Kilo Bravo is the biggest mystery of all teams. First they made us look foolish for calling them the most balanced team at the beginning of the year and then the wheels looked like it came off the season when they were defeated by Gibson for their first win of the season and easily beat by Yetis. However, they showed some signs of life last week with a win over Nest. They will need to play better this week against #1 ranked Three Kings but a win this sunday will go a long way in getting them back on track. They have a tough finish to the season playing 3 teams ranked in the top 4. At this point, they need to forget their record and try to finish the season strong going into the playoffs. It would be tough for them to bounce back from anything less than a 2-2 record over the last 4 games.

Odds to win the championship: 10-1

9. Clems (Pre-season – #9, Last Ranking #9, Record 7-7)

If only Clems could play Black Betty 18 times in a season… Since the Mid-season report, Clems were able to beat Black Betty for a 3rd straight year in a game that almost mirrored the past two. However, Clems plays other teams and besides the Betty win they haven’t beaten a team who has a record over 500 this year. They have played 86ers well in the past so they have a chance of going over 500 again this season with a win this Sunday but it looks like Clems is on pace for a 9-9 season when all is said and done. Congrats to Markow for adding to the Clems farm system with the birth of Miles Joseph.

Odds to win the championship: 15-1

10. Yetis (Pre-season – #11, Last Ranking #13, Record 6-8)

The Yetis are 3-2 over their last 5 games. With solid wins over Kilo and RSC. The next three games will be tough when they face off against Betty, Nest and 3 Kings but they have already beat both Gibson and Nest in the first three weeks so it wouldn’t be crazy for Yetis to get themselves back to 500 before the playoffs but they would have to come up with their biggest upset of the season in either the Betty or Three Kings game.

Odds to win the championship: 15-1

11. RSC (Pre-season – #10, Last Ranking #12, Record 6-8)

After a bad beatdown in week 11, RSC has rolled off 3 straight wins and looks to add a 4th to the streak when they face lower ranked St. Anselm this Sunday. Does RSC have what it takes to make another magical run to the Final Four like last year? We will find out a lot when they face off against 86ers in two weeks and Spike Hill in the last game of the season. We also want to see how many times Rash can catch Nina and Clinchy doing cute dances on the sidelines after their games.

Odds to win the championship: 15-1

12. Loggers (Pre-season – #13, Last Ranking #11, Record 5-9)

After playing Gibson this week, Loggers have Betty, Runaways and Kilo to end the season. Ouch…. Plus they just got rocked with a Condon/Cesar scandal stemming from “those pictures”. It’s going to be hard to bounce back from that.

Odds to win the championship: 25-1

13. St. Anselm (Pre-season – #8, Last Ranking #10, Record 5-9)

St. Anselm has not won back to back games all season and it’s going to be tough to break that streak before the end of the season. After several winning, this has to be tough for the team to stomach but everything can restart when the playoffs come.

Teachers grabbed their 2nd win of the season against AT two weeks ago and have played good ball lately. They only lost by 1 to the Next, 2 to the Yetis and hung in against Three Kings better than most expected.

Odds to win the championship: 50-1

15. AT All-Stars (Pre-season – #11, Last Ranking #15, Record 2-12)

AT won two in a row in weeks 3 & 4. Since then, it’s been all down hill. They have the longest losing streak of the season which currently stands at 10.

Odds to win the championship: 50-1

16. Gibson (Pre-season – #16 Record 1-13)

We are making the call…. we predict Gibson gets a second win before the end of the season. They have really played good ball since the midway mark. They lost to RSC by one, Spike by 3, Runaways by 1 and beat Kilo by one. A second win is coming…. we can feel it.